To Pursue
by MoonRose91
Summary: Slash warning. Coulson/Hawkeye. Takes place before the Thor movie. Hawkeye decides to pursue Agent Coulson. This might not go over well. Rated for safety reasons.
1. Speech

A/N – Just to tell everyone, now, this is no way, shape or form, an _official_ response to a challenge at norsekink at livejournal. In Round 1, because Round 1 is closed. It is, however, an _un_official response.

I couldn't resist.

So, here's the challenge:

_I want Clint flirting with our favorite SHIELD agent relentlessly. Like, every time they see each other or work together Clint just shamelessly hits on and teases Coulson and Coulson tries his damnedest to ignore him. But I don't want Clint doing this just cause he's joking around, thus eventual awkward wooing of Coulson._

The Rating is for: Swearing and slash, aka male/male, homosexual, relationship…eventually. For now it is a male hitting on another male.

I got inspiration from the response you'll find there. Go to the fill list and search tags for Hawkeye/Coulson, and you'll get a majority of my challenges.

**To Pursue**

**Chapter One: Speech**

Clint "Hawkeye" Barton had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. mostly because he was bored. He would admit that willingly, as he wanted new challenges. And then he was put under the most _boring_ man in existence; one Agent Phil Coulson, who was stoic, for the most part, and never, ever, seemed to loosen up.

Seriously, the guy needed to get laid.

Hawkeye would never be able to tell anyone what it was that drew his notice first. Mostly because, one day he was just doing as he ordered, quietly mocking Coulson, when someone slammed into him with a shout of, "Get down!"

Someone was pressing _very_ nicely into him, just as an explosion made him go partially deaf. He blinked up, only to see it was Coulson. He blinked a bit and realized…the guy was kind-of cute in a very oddball kind of way. However, he also noticed something else. On same base level, he realized he was already attracted to the guy.

'I am in deep shit,' he thought and then smiled.

"Normally I'd buy you a drink before we got his far," he commented and Coulson immediately got up, shouting orders.

And Hawkeye grinned.

He always loved a challenge.

* * *

><p>Hawkeye observed, his keen eyes watching, before he made his move. He had to be subtle, because Coulson was not a man that would enjoy being accosted. Hawkeye liked accosting and being bisexual just made it easier for him to read people, his sharp eyesight not missing a beat.<p>

He started with the little things.

Hawkeye began as getting to know Coulson. He began to hang around the other man more and Natasha shook her head, but let him do as he was pleasing. With a single word of warning about tormenting the 'poor agent.'

At first, Hawkeye didn't understand what she meant.

He learned quickly.

Agent Phil Coulson was the source of most of the jokes and most of the disrespect in S.H.I.E.L.D. Well, not uber-disrespect, but enough. He was often talked behind his back when they thought he couldn't hear them, but if Hawkeye could hear them while trying to bug Coulson into eating, then the agent could too.

The man stayed up all hours to make sure everything was filed away properly and Hawkeye found the man's stamina was shocking.

And when trying to discover what made Coulson tick, Hawkeye got to know the man behind the mask quite well. He could soon be heard joking back over the intercoms.

And that was how it started, Hawkeye's flirting.

He started with joking over the comm., aiming it toward Coulson. The first time he did it, Coulson sighed, and told him that the comm. was not for office jokes.

By the thirty-seventh time he did it, he could hear the tiny thread of amusement in Coulson's voice.

Victory.

However, the man was completely clueless that this was Hawkeye's version of subtle flirting.

Time to step it up a notch.


	2. Touch

**A/N: **This _entire chapter_ is dedicated to the person who gave me the freakin' idea from reading what they wrote.

**To Pursue**

**Chapter Two: Touch**

The first step in not being so subtle was just to keep in Coulson's personal bubble. And soon, Hawkeye established that there was no such thing so long as he was in the room.

It started with the meetings. Hawkeye would purposely get there so he could sit next to Coulson, making sure their legs touched. Coulson shifted uncomfortably, but each time he pulled his leg away, Hawkeye would find a way to initiate the touching again. It took a couple of debriefings for Coulson to give up from moving away.

Another victory for Hawkeye.

However, he didn't stop there. He began to push the envelope, but was met with the fact that Coulson was completely, and utterly, clueless.

One of the most perceptive agents didn't realize that Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, was flirting with him, while just about everyone in the room, when there were people in the room, could tell.

Hawkeye didn't know where to laugh or, inwardly, cry. He began to get bolder. Gently touching Coulson's hand whenever taking reports or turning them in. Whenever he was called in to look over things and see what would be the best place to be the Eye in the Sky be, Hawkeye would be sure to practically _lean on_ Coulson, a gentle hand on his lower back.

A lot of the others _outside_ Coulson's unit were noticing and teased Hawkeye mercilessly about chasing cold-hearted, emotionless, Ice King Coulson. Hawkeye would huff, but it did not deter him. He began to get even _bolder_, actually resting his hands on Coulson's arm, letting them stay there.

It was getting to the point that Hawkeye was starting to think the man was completely _oblivious_ when he was called in. Hawkeye resisted the urge to sigh and he walked into the war room, or whatever the meeting hall was called, and found Coulson sitting there, reading something.

"You wanted to see me Secret Agent Man?" Hawkeye flirted, walking over.

"There has been a change in position for the base in Siberia," Coulson explained and Hawkeye immediately focused on the pictures, letting his hands rest on Coulson's shoulders.

He winced when he felt how tense the agent was, though it felt like the normal tension that he went through by watching over all these idiots. He recognized it, since his hands were usually clasped on his shoulder.

Hawkeye began to give the man a shoulder massage as he looked over his head at the pictures and felt the man tense under his hands. He looked down and practically could _see_ the gears turning in his head. He could see the man looking back at all their previous encounters, and the tensing continued all along, down his spine.

His head snapped up and he seemed to be glaring at the wall. Hawkeye smirked and focused on the pictures again, continuing to massage Coulson's shoulders. The shoulders were relaxing, but other then that, he was tense. Coulson let out a shaky sigh and slowly curled his head over, ignoring the fact Hawkeye was flirting with him.

Victory.


	3. Little Things

Warning: The f-word…a few times. Skip the scene that talks about Coulson being tired if you are iffy about cussing.

A lot of cussing.

**To Pursue**

**Chapter Three: Little Things**

Coulson rolled his shoulders. He was tense, he had just realized that Barton was flirting with him, and Stark was pissing him off. Couldn't the cocky, child, billionaire bastard _deem_ Coulson worthy enough to at least _tell_ him about whatever new garbage he was inventing now?

He resisted the urge to sigh and opened the door to his office. The smell of coffee filled his nose and he blinked a bit. Sitting on his desk was a coffee mug, steaming away.

Along with a note.

Coulson groaned then and his shoulders slumped. He carefully walked over, settling his files on the desk and picked up the note. He shouldn't just ditch it in the sink, especially since he was really tired. He picked it up and resisted the urge to glare when he saw that it was blurring. He hated wearing his stupid glasses.

He pulled out the reading glasses, put them on. He read the note and couldn't stop the smile on his face, before his face fell back behind a, tired, mask. Not that he wasn't exhausted, he was, but he kept up his, mostly stoic, appearance, if only so people didn't get too attached.

Not that it seemed to work on Barton, the annoying sniper.

People died in this organization. If he showed how it effected him well…he just couldn't allow anyone to see a weakness, could he?

He looked at the coffee with tired eyes, looked at the pile of reports…and drank the coffee.

It was going to be a long enough night and Coulson wasn't going to waste any really, _really, _good coffee.

* * *

><p>Coulson was tired. So very, very, tired. He had spent the past four days, awake, and heavily stimulated by coffee and other caffeine products. He was actually trembling and he pressed his hand to his eyes.<p>

He _hated_ Stark.

He really, _really_, hated that man.

"Coulson, do you have the reviewed report from Stark about the gravitational orb?" someone asked at the doorway.

"Fuck," he whispered and began to look for it, only for some files to actually fall off his desk. "Fuck!" he hissed again and began to look for the needed file when he saw a hand cut into his vision, helping to pick them up.

"You look like hell, Phil," Hawkeye stated and Coulson looked up to see the guy that had asked about the file was Hawkeye.

He tried to glare, but was just too tired, and finished collecting the files off the floor, putting on his reading glasses to find the file. He ignored Hawkeye just standing there and he tensed when he felt hands rest on his shoulders. "Coulson, when was the last time you slept?" he asked softly.

"Hawkeye, please remove yourself from my personal space," he demanded in a sharp voice, still looking for that damned file.

He paused and reached under his glasses to rub his eyes. He shook his head a little, and reached for his coffee, only to find the mug not there. The smell of coffee had long since stopped being able to perk him up, maybe about twelve hours ago. Hawkeye carefully settled the mug in front of him and Coulson tried to glare up at the insufferable man before he gave up and drank the coffee.

He then focused on getting the damn file. He held it up to Hawkeye and the man gently gripped Coulson's shaking wrist before he took the file. He carefully took the file and set it to the side. "Barton, release me. I have work to do," he ordered, keeping a fine veneer of command about him.

He may not be Fury, but he didn't need this right now. And damn it, he wanted respect. "So, Agent Phil Coulson, when _was_ the last time you slept?" he asked quietly.

Coulson yanked his hand out of Hawkeye's grip and began to work on the reports, studiously ignoring Hawkeye. The man sighed and he began to walk out. Coulson let out a relieved sigh.

After another two hours, he decided that he could rest his eyes. He shifted and took off his glasses. He put them back into his inner pocket and carefully settled on the desk, using his arms as a pillow.

Just a few minutes.

When Coulson woke up, he was still dressed, but in his quarters at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. He groaned and looked over to the clock, which read 8 pm, but what caught his eye was a note that read, _Stop overworking yourself. – Hawkeye._

Coulson glared at the note, but it got thrown into a drawer instead of being thrown away. He didn't ask why he did that, he just changed into a fresh suit and barricaded himself in his office to take care of paperwork…again.

And if coffee kept finding its way in, Coulson ignored the fact it came from Hawkeye.

The food, however, was a bit more obvious.

* * *

><p>"You know, this <em>is<em> going to kill you," Barton stated and Coulson didn't look up.

He was the glorified secretary, at least that's how quite a few people saw him. He knew that. He was hurt and upset by that, but he knew that was how they saw him. And yes, Coulson _knew_ he drove people away, with his personality and stoic manner, because that's what he had to do if it meant that everything ran smoothly.

Did they think their mourning periods were just handed to them out of the goodness of Fury's heart?

Fury may care about them, but there was _paperwork_ to go through.

"Coulson, you either answer me or I _will_ drag you out of this room and _force you_ to eat!" Hawkeye warned and Coulson glared up at him.

"I'll survive. Do you have any reports to drop off?" he demanded.

Hawkeye inclined his hand and held the files out to him. "Stark's even got one," Barton stated.

Coulson sighed and took the files, immediately going to the Stark one. The bastard, of course, had just thrown everything together. He hadn't even bothered making a report. Coulson immediately put everything else away and focused on that. Hawkeye watched and sat in the chair across from Coulson, who was studiously ignoring the sniper…again.

They didn't talk for the rest of the time they were in the office. Two hours into deciphering Stark's file, however, Fury called them out.

Coulson called together his team, not including Stark, and ignored how Hawkeye was _in his personal bubble_!

And no, Phil Coulson did not find it enjoyable that Clint Barton was standing there with a gentle hand at the small of his back.

Not one bit.

Agent Coulson managed not to groan. He was always a hard person to lie to, making it next to impossible for him to lie to himself.


	4. Blood is Really Red

**To Pursue**

**Chapter Four: Blood is **_**Really**_** Red**

Hawkeye decided he _really_ liked Coulson because, while he fired out orders with machine gun fire speed, he had the accuracy of a sniper. While he, physically, was not a sniper, he was in wit and words. However, even the best of snipers can get shot, and Coulson is on a ridge, trying to get the bloody radio to work. Hawkeye was being his Eye in the Sky, and he loved being called _Coulson's_ Eye in the Sky, because everyone knew Hawkeye would stick with Coulson, especially after the past _year_ of flirting with the man.

However, he was watching Coulson right now, because he looked upset. He was pacing a bit at the edge, out of sight.

He was being quite emotional.

Hawkeye was about to make a comment when he sees a flash. Hawkeye reacts when Coulson hits the ground. Hawkeye's arrow flies and shouts for medics as he rushes up to where Coulson is bleeding out at his shoulder. Hawkeye knelt down, holding his bow at the ready, while Coulson gripped his shoulder.

"I told Fury it was a trap," he stated simply and Hawkeye rolled his eyes.

"I am starting to root for all the people that try to shoot us," Hawkeye commented and Coulson snorted.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hawkeye decides blood looks _really_ red against Coulson's pale hand. They found the sniper, a member of HYDRA.

Odd. Hawkeye had thought they were all disbanded.

* * *

><p>The man was hauled off to be locked up and the medics take care of Coulson, who was glaring at Hawkeye. Despite growing paler from blood loss. Once fixed up, his arm in a sling, he makes sure that the odd gauntlets are brought in, and ignores how Hawkeye is beginning to smirk.<p>

"So, does this mean you're going to be taking some time off now?" Hawkeye asked and Coulson steadfastly ignored him.

However, Hawkeye can't stop his hands from shaking at how _close_ he came to losing Coulson before ever finding out if they even have a _chance_.

* * *

><p>Hawkeye looked around Coulson's office. The reports were sorted neatly, Stark's report is in various piles, but the agent himself is not in the room. Hawkeye was about to go looking for him, when he hears the sound of water running. Curiosity out-weighs anything else and he follows the sound, only to hear it stop and a low hiss come for the attached bathroom.<p>

He settled on a chair and waits.

When Coulson came out, he was _very_ focused on his injury. He either didn't see Hawkeye, or was ignoring him. However, the blood had leaked through and it looks even redder against the white of the bandage. "Stop poking it," Hawkeye chides teasingly.

Coulson doesn't jump.

"Go away," Coulson ordered, before he carefully pulled his shirt back into position, followed by the jacket. He then settled at his desk and focused back on Stark's report.

"Why are you working on that?" Hawkeye asked.

Coulson doesn't answer, focusing on whatever is in the report. "Barton, can you tell Stark's keeper, Ms. Potts, he has a meeting tomorrow at 10 am? He might not have told her," he stated and Hawkeye scowled.

"Why are you making me do the running?" Hawkeye demanded, though it didn't have much of a bite. He doesn't get an answer.

However, a vision fills his mind of Coulson bleeding out, of dying, instead of living. Clint holds back a shudder at the thought and lets it go. He sighed and stood up. "Fine, but you owe me," he grumbled and stalked out.

He doesn't see Coulson look up with a surprised look on his face, before focusing back down on the report.

Pepper will but Stark in his place.

The coffee still appears on his desk, despite Hawkeye being a little ticked at him for being used as a gopher, but Coulson's last one quit.

And he needs to insure Stark shows up for _this_ meeting.

* * *

><p>Coulson swears, he's going to <em>kill<em> Barton. He's in the meeting room, obviously doing a bit of hovering. He settles next to Coulson, who ignores the way Hawkeye invades his personal space. He _doesn't_ ignore the fact that his bow and arrow are there.

"Don't do anything to make me wish to kill you," Coulson warns, just before Stark walks in, followed by a _very_ angry Pepper.

Coulson sags slightly at this and resists the urge to just pinch the bridge of his nose and cancel the meeting. Except, Stark has avoided the last _seven_ and he can't put it off anymore. Instead, he pulls on his little stoic self and then shoves the file at Stark. "What is this?" he demands and Hawkeye tenses next to him.

"My findings on the gravitational orb," Stark answers easily, but the tone suggests he was just doing it to make Coulson's life harder.

Hawkeye doesn't do anything, and waits.

Coulson slowly stands. "Stark, you know as well as I do that when I ask for a report, I mean of the most _recent_ findings, not everything for the past _two years_, only to find that _two pages_ are recent," he explains in a calm voice.

"Well, you always complain that I don't tell you anything," Stark answers innocently and Hawkeye can see the tired battle raging in Coulson's shoulders.

"Tony!" Pepper hisses and Coulson seems to steady himself.

"Stark, you don't like me. I can understand that. I am a member of a faceless organization that comes stomping all over things with big heavy boots. I can get that. I can even understand your lack of _respect_ for a _glorified secretary_, such as myself," Coulson says, in a voice as frigid as ice, "But I _do_ ask you respect what I _have_ _to_ _do_ to keep us from being shut down, one of which is these reports. Repeated information, which must go through a process so no one _steals it_, is delicate and tiring. You don't respect me, Stark, that's fine. You aren't the first and you won't be the last. But you _will_ respect _my job_. Your reports better not have repeated information again, and I don't _care_ if you fund S.H.I.E.L.D., you _will_ abide by certain rules we have. Good day Stark, Ms. Potts."

Coulson then walked out. Hawkeye huffed and left Pepper to yell at Tony Stark.

Coulson goes without sleep for another five days before he can finish up all his reports, which have piled up since he can only use one arm. It makes it hard for him to heal and Barton hovers slightly, leaving coffee, other drinks, and food whenever Coulson turns his back.

Because it's the little things that make Hawkeye think that maybe they _are_ in a relationship, even if Coulson is ignoring it.


	5. What Are We?

**To Pursue**

**Chapter Five: What Are We?**

Coulson asked for an eye in the sky with a gun.

Hawkeye became his eye in the sky with a bow and arrow.

He jumped into action and was soon swinging up into the air in his little basket on a crane. He ignored the way it swayed through the rain and he aimed. He did his usual tease over the comm., only to receive no response like he usually did.

Hawkeye resisted the urge to sigh, before he smirked a bit. He knew one that would always get a little reaction out of him. "You better call it, 'cause I'm starting to root for this guy," he states and he hears that slightly upset vein in his response.

Ah.

Coulson was mad about something. When he told him to stand down, he pulled out of it, upset. He slowly got down and had to wait for Coulson to not be _super_ busy, before he cornered him somewhere.

"So, Super Secret Agent Man, what are we?" Clint asked.

"You are my eye in the sky, and I am the man who gives the orders," Coulson answers with a forced acceptance.

Hawkeye shifted and then walked over, insuring he got right into Coulson's personal bubble. He leaned over, his chest against Coulson's shoulder and gently placed one hand on his opposite shoulder, with the other resting on his arm. Coulson tensed at the obvious invasion of his privacy, but Clint didn't move. "Come on, Phil. You've been injured, Stark's giving you hell, and you need to _slow down_. You won't be any help if you run yourself into the ground," he tried to persuade Coulson into at least _sitting_.

Coulson carefully extracted himself from Hawkeye and walked off, already working on a report. Hawkeye huffed and let him go.

In this case, when he was upset for the men who had been humiliated, and now was not a time to flirt.

And so came Hawkeye's first loss.

* * *

><p>Thor disappeared. Jane Foster got her stuff back. Coulson was in a foul mood.<p>

Probably because of the fact Thor disappeared.

Hawkeye just placed the coffee in front of Coulson and sat down. "If you don't have a report, just go away," Coulson grumbled as he continued to work through his files.

He ignored the coffee and ignored the sniper. Clint snorted and shook his head. "Nope. Look, I _know_ you're busy. I _know_ you have a lot of work to do. But, keep this up, and you'll have an ulcer before the month is out. And then you can't have caffeine to help you through the long nights of report writing and requisitions, and all that paperwork you do for us around here so we don't get hassled or yelled at by those above Fury for not being more by the book.

"Of course, we're rarely 'by the book', so I guess they just want _one thing_ to be by the book.

"But, you need _regular_ sleeping times, and meal times…and break times! So, I am here to give you a ten-minute break," Clint responds.

Coulson looks up and glares, before he returns to his report. "Weren't you debriefed on proper ways to make sure you _don't die_ from overworking?" Hawkeye presses and he _thinks_ Coulson actually chuckles.

"I was actually. But I decided that if it gets everyone _their_ vacations and items they need _quickly_ and _efficiently_, a few missed meals or hours of sleep won't kill me," Coulson answers without looking up.

Barton scowls, but lets it go. They aren't in a relationship, even if Hawkeye is trying. He shifts and stands up. "Well, I'll see you later then."

He gets up and is halfway to the door, when he is stopped by Coulson. "Barton?"

"Yes?" Clint answers, turning partially to look back at the man.

Coulson isn't looking up. "Why me?" Coulson asks.

Hawkeye pauses and thinks. "I have no idea Coulson. I _really_ like you, but I hesitate to call it love because…well, that's a pretty big word for only being four letters long. You're like a verbal sniper, which helps. And I respect you because you go through a lot of garbage so we can have an easier time. So, you're strong and reliable, but that's just the tip of the iceberg, because I'm sure there are a hundred million things, and more, that attract me to you," he answers.

Coulson doesn't answer, but he's not moving. Hawkeye knows Coulson isn't an emotional guy. He doesn't like to talk about his emotions and tries his damnedest to pull off the 'hard-hearted bastard' persona so no one likes him.

Clint "Hawkeye" Barton just watches him and looks back. He wants to smile at the way Coulson flirted back, in his own emotionless, stoic, way, but worries because Coulson doesn't initiate. He thinks and 'sees' the times when Coulson let him get away with it.

He forgets, at times, that even if Coulson is, technically, a desk jockey, he was given all the same training as every other agent and can kick ass, so if he _really_ wanted Hawkeye to stop, Hawkeye would be in an infirmary somewhere, nursing a _lot_ of broken bones.

"What are we, Coulson?" Hawkeye asks again.

"I don't know," the agent grudgingly admits, and the pen starts moving again.

Barton leaves Coulson to think.

He's not sure if he won _this_ time or not.


	6. It Interferes, You Get Sent to Siberia

**To Pursue**

**Chapter Six: It Interferes, You Get Sent to Siberia Permanently**

"If this relationship interferes with your work, Agent Coulson, I _will_ have you sent to Siberia, permanently," Fury warns and Coulson hides his wince.

"Yes, sir," he responds respectfully and Fury gives one nod.

"Now, I need to collect our three Asgard Experts from New Mexico," Fury ordered and Coulson nodded, before the video-feed went out.

He then took a deep breathe, composed himself, and headed out. "Agent Barton!" he calls and Hawkeye, who is talking with some of his friends, immediately pulls out of the conversation before he goes to join Coulson. "Yes Phil?" he asks charmingly and it makes Coulson want to hit him.

"We're going to New Mexico," he explains and they are already headed off, with Coulson not happy.

* * *

><p>Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy…something, are all outside S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. They worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., but they weren't a part of it. Hawkeye was mostly just keeping close to Coulson, in the most subtle way possible, while Coulson tried to talk sense into Jane Foster, who seemed to hate his guts.<p>

"Dr. Foster, I am not trying to pull you from your work to be an irritant, I am trying to get you to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters because there is a threat and we don't want you injured!" Coulson said in his calm voice that didn't betray an iota of how upset he was at this woman.

"No! You are just trying to lock us up and away so we don't share a research with the world!" Jane shouted back.

"Dr. Foster, we only ask you don't tell people about Asgard. Other then that, tell the entire scientific community about your discoveries!" Coulson responded.

Jane let out an enraged sound and moved, most likely to smack Coulson. Hawkeye immediately intervened.

He knew Coulson's nerves were brittle; Stark was doing some childish thing with the reports and _still_ not telling Coulson anything, in a way. Captain America was, while nice, adding a bit of stress with the computer/Internet thing. Not to mention they lost Banner, again, and Thor had, for some reason, had not returned yet, meaing Coulson was getting a lot of flack from his superiors, still.

It also meant that Coulson would start to react on his training and the agent would never forgive himself if he hurt the scientist.

Hawkeye's hand gently clasped Jane's wrist and he slid between the two, immediately releasing her. "Dr. Foster, he's telling the truth. You are one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s consultants. Someone hacked into our files and stole the information. We're pulling _everyone_ to a safe location," he explained.

He'd rather shoot something, but in times like this that was not the wisest course of action. Jane stared at him, eyeing him up and down, before huffing. "Fine, we'll pack," Jane grumbles.

They get the necessary things before piling into the SUV and, as they do that, Coulson stares at him.

"We're taking her to S.H.I.E.L.D. so she can be reunited with her boyfriend," he commented.

"_I_ know that, but I see no reason to tell her that," Hawkeye answers cheerfully and claims shotgun.

Coulson gets into the SUV and drives off. "Agent Barton, next time don't lay your hand on the God of Thunder's girlfriend," he states, but the thin vein of thanks is enough.

Victory for the Hawkeye.

* * *

><p>Coulson goes off to work on reports after Jane apologized for trying to slap him. Thor just smiles a bit and thanks Coulson for retrieving his lady. Jane responds with '<em>your<em> lady,' and Thor is soon backtracking over himself.

Hawkeye hung around to see the fireworks and Darcy leans next to him. "So…you need help getting _your_ man?" she asks, with a grin and Hawkeye winks.

"No. He's very shy and I'd hate to scare him off after working on it for a year," Hawkeye answers and leaves Darcy to film Jane ripping Thor a new one about being treated like a possession.

He smirked and headed straight for the coffee, before he went to deliver it to Coulson. He shut the door behind him and put it in front of Coulson. "Do I get a kiss?" he out-right flirts.

Hawkeye blinks a bit when Coulson stands up. "Stop. Please," he asks, and he sounds so…tired almost. He sounds like he wants to do just that and at the same time throw Hawkeye out.

"Why?" Hawkeye asks, pushing.

"Because I want to do just that and I can't let anything interfere with my duty to S.H.I.E.L.D.!" Coulson snaps, the stoic mask broken. Hawkeye sighs and walks around the desk, before gently pulling the agent into a gentle hug.

"Having a relationship doesn't mean that you have to give up your duty to S.H.I.E.L.D. you idiot," he mutters and Coulson doesn't return the hug.

"Please…leave," Coulson states.

Hawkeye sighs and releases him before leaving. "All right Coulson. But I'm still going to make sure you don't die! And I can be very persuasive when I want to be too," he responds and leaves Coulson alone.

He doesn't see the way the agent hits his chair and leans over.

For the first time since his first mission, Coulson actually cries.


	7. Finally

**To Pursue**

**Chapter Seven: Finally**

Hawkeye doesn't see Coulson for two weeks. It is a rather long time and he decides he doesn't want to know if that is because Coulson is hiding under his desk every time he comes in or that Coulson has figured out when he comes in.

Or if it is just bad luck.

They don't see each other again until Coulson and Hawkeye have to go out to retrieve an item some scientists have uncovered that may or may not bring about the destruction of the world.

That is a bit up in the air.

In the highlight of everything that falls down into a fight, and what is it about Coulson that seems to draw these fights to him like flies to honey, that Coulson gets shot again. And not just a shoulder graze, the man is actually shot. Two bullets sink into his torso and Hawkeye immediately takes down the two men who shot Coulson before dragging the man out of there. "Good God, Coulson, what are you, a jinx?" Hawkeye asks as he tries to stop the bleeding and take out enemies.

He is thankful when back-up shows up in the form of the Avengers. Stark makes a comment and narrowly misses getting shot. Hawkeye just grins and shrugs a bit with a grin, coated in blood that is not his.

Coulson pulls through, because he's Coulson and he doesn't die for anyone, and he's ordered to bed rest.

His first, official, visitor is Hawkeye.

"What are we Phil?" Clint asks.

Coulson glares. "I still have no clue," he answers.

Clint grins and leans over and gives Phil a kiss. "Can you at least give it a shot?" Hawkeye asks quietly.

Coulson glares before leaning back. "Fine."

Hawkeye grins.

He won.

But then, so did Coulson.


End file.
